


Dust to dust

by Ecchymose



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 18:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6205222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ecchymose/pseuds/Ecchymose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haley Barton knew having some of the Avengers home would turn the house upside down, and if she was completly honest with herself, her lower belly too ! But she didn't expect to feel more than friendship or physical attraction for Steve Rogers, Captain America and a more broken man than he appeared to be. </p><p>Sweet falling in love and hurt-comfort. Starting to heal together. Also strong physical attraction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dust to dust

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there ! This is the very first work I post on ao3 and I hope you'll like it ! :) Let me know what you think and forgive me if I've made mistakes, English isn't my mother language. 
> 
> Dust to dust by Civil Wars was the song I listened to when I wrote this and I often name my works this way. (Plus the song is about comforting each other by being there after being lonely so I think it fits)

Haley was putting some flowers in one of her brother and her sister-in-law's guest rooms when she saw them arriving in the SHIELD's jet and coming into the house. Barely two seconds after lost sight of them under the house's porch, she heard her nephew and niece's shouts of joy, and smiled tenderly at the thought. She'd shout herself if she could ! It has been a long time since she last saw Nat and she has missed her. But the single idea of meeting both Thor and Captain America made her quite anxious and she knew if she really shouted, it would come out as a squeak. Sure, her brother was an Avenger too, but living with one history legend and one god (jeez!), the later coming from space while the first came from seventy years ago and both extremely handsome, was an entirely different level. Just the thought of the amount of muscles under the roof made her dizzy. Damn, she needed to breathe, cool herself et get down so she could actually meet them.  
“So where's your second favourite aunt ?” she heard Nat ask.  
“Ha that's not what they told me just yesterday !” Haley joked as she walk down the stairs.  
“Not fair, the competition was out of town !” Nat winked at the blonde who smiled and nearly jumped into her almost-sister's arms, kissing her soundly on the cheek.  
“Would you stop being so damn beautiful.” Haley grumbled.  
“You know it's all for you” the red-head smirked “MrMuscle's already taken and Grand-Pa here doesn't know how its work anymore.”  
While the long-haired guy smiled dreamily looking at the brunette next to him, America's sweetheart turned red as he tried to defend his honour. She felt her brother kiss her on the top of her head from behind, holding it between both of his hands as he was used to do.  
“Thor, Jane, Steve, this is my little sister Haley.”  
“It's very nice to meet you three.” she greeted them with a smile.  
She laughed lightly when the Viking god kissed her hand, his smile contaminating as it was Jane's softness which stood out and Haley immediately knew she'd like her. When Haley's palm touched Steve's, she held her breath. Gosh, she didn't expect him to be this stunning. Not only was he built like Hercules but he had Apollo's facial features, soft but definite and amazing blue eyes.She gazed into them as he squeezed gently her hand, keeping his hold on it longer than proper. He didn't seem to let her go and Clint behind her began to cough. Steve blushed again and dropped his hand. Haley took her own back, flexing it slowly onto her stomach.  
“Damn, she thought, how am I suppose to keep it cool !”

*

“Cap, Cap, Cap, Cap !” the children exclaimed clapping their hands in encouragement.  
“Thor !” Jane shouted, getting in the mood of the game.  
Both men were reddening from the arm wrestling which was lasting for a while now. Haley couldn't keep her eyes away from Steve's muscular arms and she had to repress herself from licking her lips. She had averted her gaze from Thor's biceps out of respect for Jane, but she couldn't convince herself to do herself to do the same with the very single and very attractive Captain America. She needed to focus on something else or she would explode. For more than twenty minutes during which he had won every duel, the tension in her body had increased and now her lower belly was boiling with desire. She needed to breathe. She got up, pretending to bring back the huge pasta pan and grabbed the edge of the sink, exhaling slowly. Shouts of joy startled her and Thor's grunt indicated the Captain had won again.  
“Well, he saig a little smug, nobody else ?”  
She heard her brother say her name and she turn back swiftly, stunned.  
“Don't be ridiculous Clint, it won't last ten seconds !” she laughed.  
“Come on Haley, it'll be fun !” Steve exclaimed looking at her with a huge goofy smile. How could she resist when he said her name this way ?  
She sat in front of him, the coffee table between us, but it wasn't enough distance to prevent herself from feeling his body warmth as they locked hands. The electricity from his touch ran through her again and the squeeze of his hand could be an indication that he felt it too. They looked in each other's eyes as Thor began counting backwards.  
“Three...two...one...begin !”  
She immediately had to push back under the pressure of Steve's arm. It hadn't lasted five second and her elbow hurt already. She lowered her head, trying to resist. She didn't want to be defeated so soon. Of course she'd lose, she couldn't seriously compete with him, but she didn't want to be seen as a weak little thing. Resolute, she gazed at him again, her green eyes sinking in his. He reciprocitated and didn't let go. She heard Lila and Cooper shout from afar, like Steve and her were in a bubble and everything else had blurred. In her pericpheric vision she could see his well-defined jaw, his greek nose and his thin pink lips. She opened hers and unconsciously licked them. Steve's eyes took a darker shade of blue and the pressure against her palm lightly flattered, the balnce changing in her favor. She pushed harder ans Steve's arm went an inch closer to the table. His eyes now focused on her mouth and she understood the physiqcal effect she had on him as well.She noticed the tip of her naked toes touched his leg under the table and she brushed it slightly.She gained some more ground. Without changing her face, her foot subtly oved on Steve's pair of jeans and settled on his inner thighs. His gulped making his Adam's apple move and briefly closed his eyes before seeing Haley knocking his hand on the table, a huge grin on her face. Nobody said a word or even made a sound in the room for a few seconds. The silence was almost becoming overwhelming but Clint broke the awkardness by exclaiming :  
“Well, maybe holding a pain brush all day long pays after all !” She quickly retreated, blushing hard, not daring to look at the man in front of her in the eyes anymore. What that really her who had done that ? She never had been such a daring person, especially not with a man she didn't know for long.  
“I guess it does.” she said getting up, feeling Steve's gaze on her. Even after Thor clapped his friend on the shoulder both mockingly and understanding, he stayed on the ground much longer than he would normally have, his lap hidden under the table. Natasha smirked knowingly at Haley with a wink, making her blush even harder.  
“How...dis you see that ?” Haley stumbled on her words, still ashamed.  
“I'm a spy, sweetheart, I see everything. The only reason why Clint didn't see anything was because he didn't want to see it.”  
Haley blushed again and her bestfriend laughed before smacking her discretly on her butt :  
“You naughty girl !”  
This time Haley grined deviously.

*

Haley distanced herself from the blonde man in the following days, trying to keep her hormones under control. She exchanged some words with him when she had to, brushed his fingers once or twice when she handed him the salt, but every time she kept it short and distant. It was a hard thing to do since he was such a nice person, optimistic and kind, always trying to help and engage a conversation.Not to mention his wide and adorable smiles were infectious.Everytime he smiled, she thought the world was a more beautiful place than it was the second before and she couldn't help wifhing to see it often. But everytime she did see it, her mind greeted her with the image of her foot on his thigh and she immediately averted her eyes avay from him. She was still admonishing herself for what she had done. He didn't seem to mind though or to hold a gruge against her but her lack of self-confindence in her told her it was because she was nothing to him, merely a physical attraction. He reacted to her touch, right, but after his first instinctive reaction there was nothing more to it. She used his male condition to make him lose, she won, moving on. Maybe that was what he thought and her present distanciation wouldn't help him to think otherwise and it made her sad really because it wasn't who she was and she didn't want him to see her this way. Well, maybe he didn't think of it anymore, and it was ok, she was ok with it. Except she couldn't think of anything else that the warmth of his body under her toes, the brightness of his eyes or the line of his lips. Think about him really. And the more she thought about him, the more she distanced herself from him. He was captain America. A hero idolized and adulated by billion of girls in the whole wide world. He was an extremely handsome man and he could have any girl he wanted. Why would he want her ? She knew better of course. She knew he was not this type of guy to care all about the looks, she was aware of his story and the fact that back then he would have been glad to have a girl, any girl at all. But still. She didn't want another heartbreak, she didn't want to be a fling while it would be way too easy for her to fall in love with him. That's what she told herself and why she was trying to keep her distance. 

*

Steve wasn't always his smiling self she eventually noticed. She looked at him a lot even if she didn't talk to him, averting her eyes everytime he felt them on him and look up. But before he did, she had time to catch him staring into nothingness as his eyes became sadder and his mind drifted towards old memories. Behind his smiles, she learnt, a great sadness was lurking. She was used to see this shadow in her bestfriend's eyes. Nat suffered and lived things that still haunted her. She knew about her past more than anyone, maybe even more than Clint and she was there when her nightmares woke her up shattered. But to see that on Steve, it was even more heartbreaking. For Steve was such an optimistic person and seing good in everything and everyone. He fought so hard to go to war out of solidarity. People went to war, risking their lives, people suffered, why not him ? He wanted to make the world a better place and embodied hope during WW2 and even now. Her brother and Nat were darker person, more pessimistic, they didn't have as much light inside of them as Steve. And to see this light shaded by sadness, taking his smiles away from his face seemed unfair. She didn't want either of them to suffer. She wanted to help Steve, to say things that would ease his pain, except she wasn't the persons he'd like to see, to talk to. These persons had either forgotten about him or moved on. The only way she could help was through art. Art was her thing (and apparently his too she learnt through Nat). It conforted her in her project and soon after she went to her . She didn't leave it before she had finished her painting and was satisfied with it. Then she of the Avenger's training session outside to put it in his bedroom hoping it would bring him the peace she wanted to give him. He may not be accustomed much to abstract art but she remembered the day she discovered Rothko's paintings and the time she spent watching at his color-fields. She sat in the middle of the Museum, letting the work possess her, surround her until she didn't think about anything else that the color's power. She didn't think about anything at all actually. And it felt good. She tried to convey this feeling in her painting. Being in his room, she noticed how his scent had started to invade it. She breathed in longly and smiled sarcasticly. Oh yes, how easy it would be to let herself fall in love with him. She hadn't realized yet she already started to.  
A few hours later, as she went to bed, she discreetly sneaked a peek through his ajar door. He was sitting on his bed staring at the wall in front of him. He had his hands joined on his lap, his shoulders relaxed and his face emotionless, no Haley rectified in her mind as she smiled, at peace.

*

When she saw him the next morning, she found him changed. Something was different about him and she wasn't able to figure out what during most of the breakfast. She finally put a finger on it when he laughed at something Thor had just said. The bags under his eyes that were still there yesterday had disappeared. Suddenly he looked even younger; She went to refill her cup of coffee and she was pouring herself the drink when she felt someone stop behind her and she tensed. An arm stretched beside her to grab the bread and her heart skipped a beat when she recognized his owner. She shivered as his breath brushed her ear.  
“Thank you.” he whispered as her body was on fire.  
She was so overwhelmed by his proximity she didn't notice her cup was full.  
“Careful, careful !”  
His laugh filled her ear and she nearly moaned. God, he had a beautiful laugh !  
Steve moved swiftly and avoided the catastroph, such a hero!, putting the coffee pot away. But only his words interested him.  
“How...how did you...?”  
He made an amused noise.  
“You peint and it wasn't there before and since I'm able to do the maths, I figured you did it. For me.So thank you.”  
Haley was unable to say anything. If she did she may admit she would do many other things for him, to him, very very naughty things. She kept her mouth closed and nodded imperceptively resisting the urge to step back in order to lean on him. He was so close and so far away at the same time. It was killing her. Her cardiac rhythm was flying and if she concentrated enough she could hear Steve's heart beating as fast as hers did.  
“Hey Captain !” Thor exclaimed in his usual sheering voice. “What about bringing us the bread today !”  
Whatever bubble was created around them both, it exploded the moment Thor spoke.  
“Wouldn't hurt you to eat less !” Steve retorted.  
The God of thunder scoffed and as Steve got back to the table Haley let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. Damn him, the devil had no idea what he was doing to her. 

*

“That's unfair ! I'm with the one who slept for seventy years ! We are so going to lose !” her nephew pouted and she tried to reason him.  
“Come on, they've got a guy from outerspace and your sister's with your father, who, trust me, doesn't need to have been sleepling to suck at this game !” she winked at her brother wh mocked a hurt expression on his face and she added : “Plus, you've got me.”  
She didn't mean to be smug, she only meant it as a joke but it worked nonetheless and the kid's smile reappeared.  
“Yeah, that's true ! Oh, we are so going to win !”  
She laughed, admonishing herself for saying this. Now she couldn't let her team (which consisted in Steve, Cooper and herself) down. She only realized she had put her hand on Steve's to comfort him when he gently brushed her fingers with his thumb. She didn't dare to look at him or their hands, feeling herself blushing. She did that a lot lately and it was starting to annoy her.  
“Hey Goldenlocks, do you need to hear the rules again !” Nat poked fun at Thor to divert the attention on Haley and Steve. The woman thanked her friend silently at what Nat only answered with a smiling wink before receiving a pillow from Thor. Jane kissed his cheek tenderly.  
“Okay big boy, no need to be violent.” Nat looked astonished and picked the cards.  
“Thor, Laura, you ready ?” The red-hair asked her team.  
As they nodded, Clint turned the small hourglass and Nat picked the first card. She went silent for a few seconds and when she talked it was precise, concise.  
“The man who invented the electric light bulb.”  
Thor looked dumbfounded but Laura had the answer so Nat went on with another card.

...

Haley realized Steve still held her hand when he let it go to take the cards and cold hit her skin. He clearly looked uncomfortable so she gave him a warm smile.  
“Oh...I know him. He's a Spanish painter who lived in France and had a blue period...”  
“Picasso !” Haley exclaimed and got an overjoyed smile from her blonde team partner.  
The game went on and actually the two understood each other perfectly and even though Steve was blushing hard when he had to mimic the name, her team won much to her nephew's joy.  
When she was done counting he cards they had collected, she turned to Steve, proud and maybe a little bit smug now and raised her hand into the air to give him a high five.  
“Team work baby !” she exclaimed as their hands smashed onto each others.  
Her sister-in-law's face worn a knowing smile. 

*

She shivered as she felt the cold night air pierced through her waist-coat and she wrapped herself into it.She had needed air and a little alone time. Since the Avengers came into her brother's house to spend some vacations, she hadn't had the chance to be alone for long before someone interrupted her quietness. She enjoyed herself very much, they were all nice and create some animation. Lila and Cooper were overexcited all the time.Steve and Thor were great play partners. They invented multiple fictionnal dangerous situations were the men were the bad guys and the kids had to beat them. Nat sometimes joined the children's team. Once they pretended Thor's hammer was King Arthur's Excalibur.Of course they couldn't lift it but trying was enough fun for them. It was nice to see all of them so happy and she especially loved seeing Steve caught off-guard, smiling as a child. She couldn't help noticing how great he was with the kids as Jane did looking at Thor. The brunette's face softened in an adoring expression as if she was fantasizing mini Thors smashing the god to the ground as he pretended to be dead.  
Haley was pulled out of her reverie as she heard someone chopping wood forcefully. She tried to see more clearly in the dark but she couldn't see more than a figure twenty feet away from her. The silhouette was tall, too tall to be a woman's, the shoulders were too broad to be Clint's, the...She blushed deeply as she realized she was actually able to recognize Steve's butt. She put aside the shameful thought and walked towards him.  
“You're aware there's enough chopped wood for the next three Barton's generations ?” she half-joked to make him know she was there. He barely seemed surprised and she figured his over-deelopped senses must have perceived her from the moment she stepped out of the house. He slowly turned around to look at her.  
“Haley.” he let out with a tired voice as he dropped the arm which was holding the axe.  
She was only a few feet away from him now and she could see his face better. His whole face was contorsioned in pain and as she sank into his blue orbs, she almost let out an horrified gasp in front of so much sadness. She held out a hand to his face but before she could reach his cheek, he suddenly turned around to resume chopping wood. Ashamed of being seen so vulnerable he asked her to leave. Ignoring her crushed heart by the harsh tone, she called him by his birth name (well...she won't admit to anyone she learnt it when looking his Wikipedia page). He didn't answer but instead she heard him choking down a sob. In an overwhelming urge to comfort him, she wrapped her arms around him from behind, clinging close to him.Her hands barely reached each other, so she put them flat on his chest, feeling his heart under her palms. He set the axe in one of the wood trunks and slowly relaxed against her. She held him tight as he cried silently. When he faced her again her arms hurt with the stretching and she let him embrace her with happiness. He put his head on her hair for a few minutes, falling into a pleasant easiness before she looked up and took his cheeks between her palms. She brushed off the remaining tears with her thumbs and he bent his head on her left hand as they looked at each other in the eyes.  
“I thought he was dead.”he finally admitted with a hoarse voice. “I missed him so much... And I was so angry with myself for letting him die because of me.”  
Haley opened her mouth to rectify him but he put a finger on her lips.  
“I'm afraid I'll never find him, and even if I do, that he won't be the same Bucky he was. I'm afraid I'll never get him back.” his voice broke.  
“When you find him, and I trust you will, he'll be changed, just like you are. But it doesn't mean you can't have your best friend back. You'll have to be patient. The fact that he saved you means there's hope.Okay ?” she whispered as she stroke his face softly.  
“Ok.” he said back.  
“Good, 'cause my neck hurts from looking up too long, you're so tall !” she admitted, half because it was the truth, half to lighten the mood.  
He chuckled lightly, grabbed her waist and lifted her up to put her on the tree's stock.  
“better ?” he asked and she smiled as an answer.  
“I think it's cute.” he confessed.  
“What ? The fact that I'm so small compared to you ?” she pretended to be offended but Steve's answer melt her heart.  
“So we fit perfectly.”  
To illustrate his words, he got closer to the stock's edge and pressed himself against her body, his cheek against her sternum.  
“See ? Perfect.” he stated and she smiled.  
“Smug, adorable man” she thought as she intertwined her fingers in his hair, massaging his scalp. They stayed this way for a long time, his warmth preventing her from getting cold. She was drifting into sleeiness when Steve shifted and carefully drew her onto his back, piggybacking her and he got them back into the house. She buried her nose in his neck, breathing in his scent, both ebriated by the closeness and boldened by her sleepy state. But he stopped in front of her bedroom's door and she slode to the ground.  
“I don't want to leave you.” she mumbled.  
He smiled at her and she swore she had seen some kind of tenderness in his gaze.  
“You need to sleep.” he stated.  
“I know.” she agreed.  
Daring, she walked to Steve's bedroom's door and turned back at him, a question in her eyes. He followed her lead and opened the door, letting her enter first like the true gentleman he was.  
They cuddled under the blankets, enjoying each other's sole presence. 

*

A ray of sunshine brushed her eyelids, caressing her skin with its warmth. She groaned and stroke her face against the soft fabric of Steve's shirt. He slode a hand under her own top, arching her back and she was glad he was still half-asleep or his old-fashioned man's manners wouldn't allow him to do so. Her lips touched his and he opened his eyes before blushing.  
“Sorry.” he said embarassed. She didn't acknowledged his word and thrusted her hips against him, watching him gulp. Her smile grew and after shushing him as she knew he was going to say it was proper for them to be doing such things, she raised her face back to his level. She saw his gaze shift to her lips and she stuck the tip of her tongue out, slowly and nearly imperceptibly licking his upper lip. He immediately closed the gap between them and kissed her with hunger. The crave turned into devotion as they enjoyed the softness of their mouthes against each other and worshipped every inch of skin they touched. They barely separate to breathe. She wondered how long he could survive without breathing and thought it would be nice to die kissing him. She was still afraid though, but if it felt like that it was worth it. Oh sweet baby, it was definetly worth it ! She thought as he nibbled her neck. She moaned soflty and grumbled against her skin.  
“We can't.” he said and she knew it was eventually going to happen. She didn't want to rush him if he really was uncomfortable with it, but she did really want him.  
“I didn't properly court you !” he added making her laugh.  
“You're adorable but I don't need courting.”  
He made such an astounded face she nearly melted.  
“You do, you deserve to be courted !”  
“You're sweet” she confessed.  
“Moreover, I didn't tell your brother.”  
“My brother ? Why ?”  
“Well, I don't know your father, so...”  
She realized he meant ask him his blessing and she was both indignant because she was a grown and independant woman and charmed by his determination to do it properly.  
“Oh shut up, you old man !”  
“Language !” he laughed and she teased him. “Silence me then.”  
She straddled him and asked :  
“Don't you think you should ask me if I allow you to have me.”  
her voice was barely a whisper against his ear and she bit it carefully.  
“Do you, Haley Barton, allow me to have you ?”. His voice was getting quicker, she noticed.  
“Well...” she kissed his shoulder, “I...” she kissed his pectoral, “want...” she kissed his abs, “you...” his other pec, “to...” his jaw, “have...” his cheekbone, “me.” she finished talking before tenderly kissing him on the mouth.  
He soon forgot about courting her , rolled them on the bed, slided his hands under her top again not blushing this time and caressing her flat stomach before getting bolder and reaching her breasts.  
“Good” he murmured with a husky voice. “because I feel exactly the same.”

*

Natasha woke as alone as she had fallen asleep and smiled knowingly.  
“Good job, Cap !” she joked to herself.  
She was actually happy for her bestfriend. Haley was kind and giving and she deserved to receive as much as she was willing to give. Cap, although a little prude sometimes, was a good man. Now, one only had to hope Clint wouldn't turn him into a dead man, she chuckled. Neither Steve nor Haley got down before noon and when they did, they were welcomed by cheers (and a glare towards Steve from Clint). Haley hid her face in the blonde's shoulder, laughing in embarrassement. "Oh come on guys !" she exclaimed but it only added more fuel to the fire. Next to her, she felt Steve touching her hand and with an adoring smile and look, let him lace their fingers together. The others could go to hell, for she had found a little piece of heaven and she was counting on holding on to it.


End file.
